Sunday 3rd February

Hello friends, I hope this Sunday finds you all well and warm or cool depending on your part of the globe. I know parts of the world have been suffering extremes of weather and must admit that while it is cold here we have been lucky with just a light dusting of snow so far.

At the end of last month, I made a life-changing decision. I handed in my notice to the job I have been in for nearly 10 years. Whilst I have loved my time there and my job, my recent health issues and the deterioration of my husband's health means that I have had to look long term at my ability to be a functioning and reliable staff member and sadly I know that I can not now be the person they need me to be. The loss of an income means that I will now have to be extra careful with my pennies. Luckily I have an extensive stash collected over the years from which I can personally shop but you know how it is, there is always a shiny new yarn you want to try out of a local yarn festival to visit.

Now that I am not earning I have been looking at new ways to fund my yarn habit, yes I have an addiction, and I think I have found my answer. Whilst perusing Ravelry I stumbled across a post which detailed a type of yarn savings account which you keep yourself. You pay yourself a small amount for finished items and used up yarn from your stash. I have decided on the following amounts.

• Small items, hat, baby item etc. - £1
• Pairs, socks or mitts - £2
• Large items, sweater or blanket - £5
• Each ball or skein used up - £1 

I am hoping that by doing this I can save up my pennies for EYF and the smaller St Abbs yarn festivals and my kitty bank is ready to collect my earnings.

Given that I will have a bit more time on my hands I hope to listen to a few more books this year. I have a few under my belt already and this week started listening to a non-fiction epic. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon is 126 hours long so I am listening to a chapter a day. So far this insight into this period of history is fascinating and informative. Alongside this, I will listen to various other books and am currently enjoying The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths.

This week I have mostly been working on my EYF sweater. I have made it through the waist decreases and am heading rapidly to the bust increases.  As I am knitting from stash and using a different yarn from the pattern and I have different quantities of colours available to me I am using the pattern more as a guide to shaping and fit than doing the colourwork in the original.

My ZickZack scarf has moved on a little too with the first mini skein nearing its end. This is such an easy pattern with such stunning results. I have been blown away with some of the finished projects on Ravelry and hope my effort works as I imagine it.

I have a couple of finishes to show you too.

Continuing our journey around Scotland's Burghs we have come to the last big city burgh of Glasgow. The biggest city but not the capital lends its name to a wee pair of ankle socks I finished early in the week.

These were knitted from leftovers from other socks I had knitted and are currently keeping my tootsies warm.

My other finish this week takes us north to the first of the Aberdeenshire burghs. Inverurie, a Royal Burgh, is the name I have given to this stranded hat.

 This free pattern, https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-easy-ombre-slouch-hat is a good introduction to stranded knitting if you have never tried it before. Using only two colours of DK and 4mm needles, it knits up quickly and gives a very pleasing result. I used an unknown yarn cake from my stash and knitted a fixed doubled brim for the lower portion then added Stylecraft Special DK in Boysenberry for the top.

Finally this week I have a new gadget to share with you. I am always on the lookout for any tools which make my crafting easier and lately, I have seen a lot of adverts for neck lamps with LED bulbs. I did a bit of research and finally chose one from Amazon.

The lamp came very quickly and it is a fabulous addition to my tool kit. As it is the season of long nights it is especially useful, allowing me to knit longer without adding eye strain. I can also see it being very useful if you are knitting with very dark colours all year round. I have tried to capture a photo of it in use to give you the idea of how you can train the light on your hands. It weighs very little and after a very short while I forgot I had it around my neck.

I am still getting used to it for knitting but can also see many other uses for around the home and out and about. I have a feeling some of these may turn up in Birthday presents this year.

That's it for now, until next week happy crafting

Mary


Rows - 334

Monday Musings

First Steps

Walking

Traditionally in January people make resolutions. One popular one is to join a gym and exercise more. Usually by the end of the month this has fallen by the wayside. This year rather than make such a commitment I have taken on a challenge. I discovered a Scottish website which aims to encourage folk to walk more. World Walking have a huge variety of virtual walks which you can take on as a solo walker, like me, or as part of a larger group. All you need to take part is a pedometer and the will to give it a go. I have chosen to do the North Coast 500, which is a 500 mile circular route from Inverness around the north coast of Scotland. Along each walk are key points to aim for. I have decided that to keep me totally motivated that each time I reach a key point I am allowed to purchase some yarn for my knitting. I am not allowed to purchase at any other time with 2 exceptions, Edinburgh Yarn Festival in March and if I need more to finish a project.

Knitting

Another first step I have taken this week is to cast on a jumper for my mum.

  The Firenze pattern is available for free on Ravelry and is essentially a male pattern. However I have already finished 2, one for DH and one for me, more about that later.

Saving

I have also taken the first steps in the savings challenge I mentioned last week and have kept up with the daily amount. It is easy to do at this this early stage but I know it will get harder as the year goes on. 

Books

A new book was started this week, War at the Edge of the World by Ian Ross. I am not normally the sort to want to read about Roman soldiers battling the Picts but DH was keen and surprisingly I am really enjoying it. The narrator is very good and the writing truly paints a picture in your head as to what is happening.

Finishes

Knitting

As I mentioned earlier I have already finished two jumpers in the Firenze pattern. The first, on the left, for DH and the second for me.

The pattern is one of the easiest I have ever knitted. The jumper is knitted more or less in one piece from the bottom up. Using  strands of yarn held together you knit the main body, put it aside then knit the sleeves. Once they are done you put them all on the one needle and knit the raglan yoke and neck. The only seaming is 8 stitches under each arm which is an absolute joy for someone like me who detests seaming.

The pattern is from Drops and I knitted his in the yarn suggested, Drops Alpaca in Petrol Mix and Drops Fabel in Blue Lagoon Print. For mine I once again used Drops Alpaca in Petrol Mix but this time used King Cole Zig Zag in Thistle from my stash as the 2nd yarn. Zig Zag is now discontinued so I wanted to get some of it used up. I find it amazing that 2 jumpers using the same base shade can look so different just by changing the accent.

Books

I have finished the first book in my Goodreads reading challenge. Not Dead Enough by Peter James was a gripping murder mystery set in Brighton. It had me hooked from the first chapter and all I wanted to do was stay up listening till the early hours to find out more and more. The twist at the end was a complete surprise and I am looking forward to listening to more of his books.

Getting to Grips with 2016

The festivities are all over for another year and now it is time for me to look forward to what I want from 2016.
As any one of you who knows me personally can attest I am about as far from being a domestic goddess as it gets. I try to keep up but with the hoarder husband and my yarn habit I will admit that I am fighting a losing battle. This year though I want to at least give a bash at getting it under control. I mentioned in my last post he 2 out 1 in for my yarn but I and DH seriously have to take a look at our clothing situation. Can you believe I am still wearing a couple of jumpers I bought from a store called What Everyone Wants back in the 1990's. I am sure I have more stuff from that era and it is time for it to go.
This is also the year I want to get my recycling habit sorted. For the last few months I have been trying really hard to get the stuff in the right bins and this year I will be re-doubling my efforts.
Another thing I want to do this year is sort out a savings plan that I can stick to. I want us to have some spare pennies to use to enjoy life with. The first thing I plan to do is get back to a Christmas savings plan with Park. I used to save for the vouchers but for some reason I stopped. This will be restarted this week. The second thing I plan to do is pop a regular amount of money in a jar. I spotted the 365 day savings challenge on FB and I have already begun. Also as a bonus this year has 366 days so an extra £3.66 will go in the kitty.

 It seems such an easy way to save.

The new year also brings lots of new series of our favourite TV shows. I am looking forward to the return of NCIS, Midsommer Murders, Silent Witness and many more. Sometimes there is nothing better than curling up with some easy knitting and a great TV show.
Talking of TV over the holiday season I got bored with the usual repeats and decided to go searching through Sky to see if anything caught my fancy. One which I thought I would try was Glee. Well where the heck was I when this was on? 4 episodes in and I was hooked. The storyline reminds me of Fame from way back in the 80's but the music is fantastic and if I am feeling a wee bit down watching an episode guarantees to cheer me up. I just hope Sky keep the box sets on long enough for me to watch them all.